Atal Bihari Vajpayee

New Delhi/Shimla, Aug. 19: The forcible exit of Jaswant Singh draws the curtains on the Atal Bihari Vajpayee era in the BJP, the party’s stage now virtually empty of the moderate faces once closely associated with the former Prime Minister.

Jaswant, who commanded respect in the party despite lack of any organisational clout, was considered a “cerebral” leader who could handle subjects ranging from economy to foreign affairs. He held both finance and foreign affairs portfolios in the Vajpayee government.

The former soldier was also the Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha between 2004 and 2009 before getting elected to the Lok Sabha from Darjeeling.

Time was when a section of the BJP felt Jaswant could be used by Vajpayee to stop Advani from becoming the BJP’s candidate for Prime Minister. But Vajpayee, whose failing health virtually forced him out of active politics, was not in a position to set the course of the party and Jaswant was left playing second fiddle to Advani.

The Kandahar episode, which saw Jaswant accompanying terrorists who were freed in exchange for hostages, too got stuck on his political persona, making him a bit of an embarrassment for the party.

In Shimla, an emotional Jaswant today recalled that he was among the first lot of BJP leaders who were given positions of responsibility in the party by Vajpayee and Advani.

Asked whether he felt that the BJP had taken action against him since Vajpayee was no more active, Jaswant said it would be unfair to derive such a conclusion.

Pressed further if there had been a change in the party after Vajpayee’s indisposition, Jaswant evaded a direct response, saying he had seen changes in the party in the last 30 years.

However, he spoke a language Vajpayee would have found easy to understand. Jaswant said his “biggest worry and concern was that he was expelled just because he had written a book.”

“I think, in Indian polity and political parties, if aspects like thinking, introspection, discussion, reading and writing end, it will not be in the interest of the country,” he said.

Fielding a question on “lack of internal democracy” in the BJP, Jaswant said: “Some in (the) party feel that there is a great deal of selectivity in the party... It is not right to be selective in addressing the questions of dissent and discussion.”

He also suggested that the party was losing its way because of “swaarth (self-interest)” of some people.

Even after Vajpayee went into virtual retirement, Jaswant was a valuable asset for the party.

After the party’s election defeat, Jaswant was the only dissenter the leadership tried to mollify. He was given a front row seat in the Lok Sabha and made the chairperson of the Public Accounts Committee, a potent weapon in Opposition hands as the panel can scrutinise government expenses. The BJP now faces a dilemma as Jaswant can be removed as PAC chairman only by the Lok Sabha Speaker.

Jaswant has so far shown no inclination of retiring from public life — he said there was a need for “thinking” in today’s polity and he would contribute to that.

As Jaswant has not defected — the BJP has expelled him — he can complete his term as MP if he does not join another party. Jaswant’s son Manvendra Singh, who lost the Lok Sabha election, remains in the BJP.